Trending Now: Yik Yak, Monograms, and Dressed-Up Churros

By Alcalde Staff in 40 Acres, Jan | Feb 2015 on December 18, 2014 at 2:48 pm | No Comments

Yik Yak

For an unfiltered look into life on the Forty Acres, download Yik Yak, a proximity-based, fully anonymous message board where pretty much anything goes. A typical day sees UT’s board fill up with some uplifting content, a lot of smack talk and venting, and a plethora of jokes too vulgar to print. “Yaks” can range from crass to downright offensive, but if something happens on campus, you’d best believe it’ll be yakked about.

Monogramming Everything

And we mean everything. UT students are monogramming car decals, fleece jackets, backpacks, pillow cases, necklaces: Name it and it can be monogrammed. It’s a great way to personalize accessories, and it quashes any “Hey, that’s mine” argument. The curly script and tendency for sorority girls to buy all monogrammed everything makes this a trend dominated by the fairer sex.

Favor

The person who invented Favor should be given a medal. This app will deliver you any food from any restaurant at any time through its system of delivery people called “runners,” which basically means Whataburger on-call 24/7. Granted, there’s both a $5 delivery charge and a recommended $5 runner tip, and the service is only available in Austin and Boston, but Favor looks to expand to other cities soon; and hey, is there really any price too great for a honey butter chicken biscuit delivered to your door at 3 a.m.?

Churros

Like Matthew McConaughey and bacon and cupcakes before him, churros are having a renaissance. These long, fried pastries are traditionally rolled in cinnamon and sugar and dipped in hot chocolate or coffee, but some churro entrepreneurs like the I Love Churros truck in East Austin are changing the game by injecting these fried-dough delights with everything from peaches to Nutella. You read right, pastries fried in lard are now being filled with magical hazelnut spread. That diet can start tomorrow. — Anderson Boyd and Adam Humphrey

Top: Thinkstock

Tags: apps, churros, favor, monograms, nutella, trends, yik yak